Felt Presence and Psychosis Risk in the General Population.
Psychopathology 2026 DOI: 10.1159/000548612 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Exploratory survey Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 376 |
| Population | General population adults |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Autoscopic hallucination Bodily self Felt presence Psychosis risk |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key findings | Felt presence and anxiety significantly predicted elevated psychosis risk, and distress during felt presence predicted psychosis-risk status beyond demographic and psychiatric covariates. |
Abstract
Felt presence (FP) is the experience that another entity is present in one's proximal environment, despite no sensory evidence. Occurrence of FP is linked to psychosis risk, but qualities of FP in the context of psychosis are not well understood. We conducted an online, exploratory survey assessing qualities of FP in relation to psychosis risk in the general population. Three hundred and seventy-six participants completed an anonymous online survey consisting of validated measures of sensed presence, psychosis risk, loneliness, trauma, resilience and general mental health. They also responded to questions about perceptual qualities of FP. We investigated the role of the presence and its qualities in predicting psychosis risk, and relationships between qualities of FP and psychosis risk. We also examined the relationships between qualities of FP and psychosocial variables with psychosis risk. FP and anxiety significantly predicted elevated psychosis risk. FP experiences in the high-risk group were more frequent, distressing, vivid, and multisensory than in the low-risk group. Specifically, distress during FP significantly predicted psychosis-risk status over and above demographic and psychiatric covariates (including anxiety). Cumulative trauma was linked with total number of FP experiences as well as increased frequency, distress, vividness, and understandings of FP's identity. Depression, anxiety, and stress were associated with more physiological sensations and increased distress during FP, as well as knowledge of FP's identity. Resilience was associated with more frequent and vivid FPs. These results demonstrate strong links between FP and psychosis risk in the general population and provide preliminary evidence of qualitative markers that differentiate FP from psychosocial factors in the context of psychosis risk. Assessment and clinical conceptualizations of risk for schizophrenia should consider including experiences of bodily self-disturbance, such as FP.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survey of entity encounter experiences occasioned by inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, interpretation, and enduring effects. People who had a memorable entity encounter after taking N,N-dimethyltryptamine | 2020 | Survey | n = 2,561 |
| Future directions in meditation research: Recommendations for expanding the field of contemplative science Meditators | 2018 | Cross-sectional online survey | n = 1,120 |
| The Phenomenology of Lucid Dreaming: An Online Survey Respondents to an online survey about lucid dreams | 2014 | Online survey | n = 684 |
| The neurophenomenology of early psychosis: An integrative empirical study. Ultra-high risk for psychosis patients, first episode psychosis patients, and healthy... | 2019 | Cross-sectional | n = 123 |
| Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings: Phenomenology, Altered States, Individual Differences, and Well-Being People reporting their most powerful Spontaneous Spiritual or Kundalini Awakening | 2021 | Mixed within and between-participants self-report survey design | n = 152 |
Citations in the library
Cites 11
- The Out-of-Body Experience: Disturbed Self-Processing at the Temporo-Parietal Junction The Neuroscientist January 4, 2005
- Disturbances in body ownership in schizophrenia: evidence from the rubber hand illusion and case study of a spontaneous out-of-body experience. PLoS One June 10, 2016
- Feeling of presence in Parkinson's disease Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry May 7, 2011
- Varieties of felt presence? Three surveys of presence phenomena and their relations to psychopathology. Psychological Medicine June 1, 2023
- The Phenomenology of Psychosis: Considerations for the Future Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology 2021
and 6 more in the library